Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story
(on a postcard)

Nice Things Said AboutUsSam Lipsyte:
"Michael Kimball never ceases to astonish. He is a hero of
contemporary American literature."
Observer:
“Powerful and moving ... breathless”
El Mercurio:
“First, Camus showed us the human condition. Now Kimball
has.”
Time Out London:
“A deep love between an ageing husband and wife is given a
heartbreaking voice ... tender and poignant”
El País:“Haunting and awesome ... beautiful and
intense ... This is a novel from a great talent.”
El Placer de la Lectura:
“A monument to love”
The Glasgow Herald:
“Be warned: this book has the power to make
even the most hard-hearted of readers shed a tear. ...
Kimball has broken into new territory: Us is one
of the most graphic depictions of illness and loss I have
ever read.”
Letras Libres:
Michael Kimball "already delivers the
future of the novel ... [He is] one of the authentic
innovators in contemporary fiction."
Blake Butler:
“There are two books I can remember that ever made me
physically cry. There were the rape scenes in Saramago’s
Blindness, and there was nearly every chapter of
Michael Kimball’s [Us]. While the first hurt
because it was so brutal, Kimball’s was a softer kind of
invocation—as I read it in a bathtub, I could not shake the
feeling of being held, as if somehow the words had
interlaced my skin. This is the essence of the magic
Michael Kimball holds—his sentences come on so taut, so
right there, and yet somehow so calming, it’s as if you are
being visited by some lighted presence.”
El Razón:
“Bathed in tenderness ... touching and breathtaking ... one
of the most moving, heartbreaking, and sad novels of
contemporary American fiction. It is essential.”
Telegraph and Argus:
“This is the saddest book I have ever read and one of the
most beautiful ... One can’t help being aware of his grief
and the great love he feels for his dying wife. It will
make you cry and break your heart but this is one book you
must read.”

New York Tyrant #8 is now out. I have a piece in it called We Lived Together on Paper -- and Andy Devine has a condensed novel in it called Apartment City from into Our Please We Went. There's also a ton of great work by Sam Lipsyte, Ken Sparling, Noy Holland, Breece D’J Pancake, Padgett Powell, Daryl Scroggins, Brandon Hobson, Ken Baumann, and Sean Kilpatrick. Plus, there are lots of knives in the stories.

Atlanta: On Friday, May 14, at 8pm, at eyedrum, there will be a screening of 60 Writers/60 Places. There will also be readings by Zachary Schomburg and Ann Stephenson. Many thanks to the great Blake Butler for setting this up.

Ken Baumann’s mother was diagnosed with cancer and given 3 weeks to live before he ever existed. Luckily, his mother recovered and Ken was born some time after that, though extremely prematurely. Ken was supposed to be dead and blind, and he does have horrible vision, but his hearing is intact. For all these reasons, Ken was a miracle baby. For many other reasons, Ken’s parents have always known he is special. Ken had a great childhood growing up in Abilene, Texas, but didn’t play football. He was always skinny and read a lot, mostly fantasy books. When he was 10, wrote a book about a boy wizard who is recruited to a wizardry school so he can fight the evil wizard (Ken was incredibly pissed when Harry Potter came out). When he was 15, Ken wrote his first full-length novel and it felt like a huge accomplishment to finish something so large. Through these years, Ken continued to read and write fantasy books—until he read Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat's Cradle, which changed the way he thought and read for good. Ken’s acting career began after he was discovered at a Model/Actor Search and later was signed by a talent agent in NYC, where he moved for 3 months. After that, Ken was set up with another agent in Dallas and started auditioning for commercials and modeling for area department stores. But it wasn't until Ken played Nick in A Thousand Clowns at a local theatre that he felt passionate about acting. He gave up the modeling thing and went to Los Angeles for pilot season. The second year he went for pilot season he booked the lead in a pilot for Fox called Don't Ask, and he has been working ever since. Even though he was just 14, Ken wanted to take care of the family and find enough work to convince his dad to move out with his mom and his little sister. Ken wanted the family together and thought it was his responsibility. Recently though, Ken realized that his parents are incredible and smart and ten times more capable to withstand life's difficulties than he is. He loves how supportive they have always been. There was never any stage mom or stage dad from them and they never put any expectations on him. Ken met his girlfriend while working on a film called Spring Break '83. He felt the most joy, the most innocence, in the 6 weeks that they were together on set. She is an intelligent, generous, talented, loving person—and he loves her purely. She has inspired him to do so much. His second novel, Interim, and the feature film that he’s working on now are both dedicated to her. Last year, Ken started work on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, bought a house, and is now living by himself. Ken feels powerful and alive, and Ken is.

[Update: The second season of The Secret Life of the American Teenager premiered earlier this week (and the blog has been getting a lot of hits from Ken’s fans, so I thought I would make it easier on everybody).]

Ken Baumann’s mother was diagnosed with cancer and given 3 weeks to live before he ever existed. Luckily, his mother recovered and Ken was born some time after that, though extremely prematurely. Ken was supposed to be dead and blind, and he does have horrible vision, but his hearing is intact. For all these reasons, Ken was a miracle baby. For many other reasons, Ken’s parents have always known he is special. Ken had a great childhood growing up in Abilene, Texas, but didn’t play football. He was always skinny and read a lot, mostly fantasy books. When he was 10, wrote a book about a boy wizard who is recruited to a wizardry school so he can fight the evil wizard (Ken was incredibly pissed when Harry Potter came out). When he was 15, Ken wrote his first full-length novel and it felt like a huge accomplishment to finish something so large. Through these years, Ken continued to read and write fantasy books—until he read Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat's Cradle, which changed the way he thought and read for good. Ken’s acting career began after he was discovered at a Model/Actor Search and later was signed by a talent agent in NYC, where he moved for 3 months. After that, Ken was set up with another agent in Dallas and started auditioning for commercials and modeling for area department stores. But it wasn't until Ken played Nick in A Thousand Clowns at a local theatre that he felt passionate about acting. He gave up the modeling thing and went to Los Angeles for pilot season. The second year he went for pilot season he booked the lead in a pilot for Fox called Don't Ask, and he has been working ever since. Even though he was just 14, Ken wanted to take care of the family and find enough work to convince his dad to move out with his mom and his little sister. Ken wanted the family together and thought it was his responsibility. Recently though, Ken realized that his parents are incredible and smart and ten times more capable to withstand life's difficulties than he is. He loves how supportive they have always been. There was never any stage mom or stage dad from them and they never put any expectations on him. Ken met his girlfriend while working on a film called Spring Break '83. He felt the most joy, the most innocence, in the 6 weeks that they were together on set. She is an intelligent, generous, talented, loving person—and he loves her purely. She has inspired him to do so much. His second novel, Interim, and the feature film that he’s working on now are both dedicated to her. Last year, Ken started work on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, bought a house, and is now living by himself. Ken feels powerful and alive, and Ken is.